Official State Tree of U. S. States and Territories

Official State Tree of U. S. States and Territories All 50 states and several U.S. territories have officially embraced a state tree. All of these state trees, with the exception of Hawaiis state tree, are natives that naturally live and grow in the state in which they are designated. Each state tree is listed in order by state, common name, scientific name and the year of enabling legislation. You will also find a Smokey Bear poster of all state trees. Here you will see each tree, a fruit, and a leaf.   Alabama State Tree, longleaf pine, Pinus palustris, enacted 1997 Alaska State Tree, Sitka spruce, Picea sitchensis, enacted 1962 Arizona State Tree, Palo Verde, Cercidium microphyllum, enacted 1939 California State Tree, California redwood, Sequoia giganteum* Sequoia sempervirens*, enacted 1937/1953 Colorado State Tree, Colorado blue spruce, Picea pungens, enacted 1939 Connecticut State Tree, white oak, Quercus alba, enacted 1947 District of Columbia State Tree, scarlet oak, Quercus coccinea, enacted 1939 Delaware State Tree, American Holly, Ilex opaca, enacted 1939 Florida State Tree, Sabal palm, Sabal palmetto, enacted 1953 Georgia State Tree, live oak, Quercus virginiana, enacted 1937 Guam State Tree, ifil or ifit, Intsia bijuga Hawaii State Tree, kukui or candlenut, Aleurites moluccana, enacted 1959 Idaho State Tree, Western white pine, Pinus monticola, enacted 1935 Illinois State Tree, white oak, Quercus alba, enacted 1973 Indiana State Tree, tulip tree, Liriodendron tulipifera, enacted 1931 Iowa State Tree, oak, Quercus**, enacted 1961 Kansas State Tree, cottonwood, Populus deltoides, enacted 1937 Kentucky State Tree, tulip poplar, Liriodendron tulipifera, enacted 1994 Louisiana State Tree, bald cypress, Taxodium distichum, enacted 1963 Maine State Tree, eastern white pine, Pinus strobus, enacted 1945 Maryland State Tree, white oak , Quercus alba, enacted 1941 Massachusetts State Tree, American elm , Ulmus americana, enacted 1941 Michigan State Tree, eastern white pine , Pinus strobus, enacted 1955 Minnesota State Tree, red pine , Pinus resinosa, enacted 1945 Mississippi State Tree, magnolia, Magnolia***, enacted 1938 Missouri State Tree, flowering dogwood, Cornus florida, enacted 1955 Montana State Tree, Western yellow pine, Pinus ponderosa, enacted 1949 Nebraska State Tree, cottonwood, Populus deltoides, enacted 1972 Nevada State Tree, singleleaf pinyon pine, Pinus monophylla, enacted 1953 New Hampshire State Tree, white birch, Betula papyrifera, enacted 1947 New Jersey State Tree, Northern red oak, Quercus rubra, enacted 1950 New Mexico State Tree, pinyon pine, Pinus edulis, enacted 1949 New York State Tree, sugar maple, Acer saccharum, enacted 1956 North Carolina State Tree, pine, Pinus sp., enacted 1963 North Dakota State Tree, American elm, Ulmus americana, enacted 1947 Northern Marianas State Tree, flame tree, Delonix regia Ohio State Tree, buckeye, Aesculus glabra, enacted 1953 Oklahoma State Tree, Eastern redbud, Cercis canadensis, enacted 1937 Oregon State Tree, Douglas fir, Pseudotsuga menziesii, enacted 1939 Pennsylvania State Tree, eastern hemlock, Tsuga canadensis, enacted 1931 Puerto Rico State Tree, silk-cotton tree, Ceiba pentandra Rhode Island State Tree, red maple, Acer rubrum, enacted 1964 South Carolina State Tree, Sabel palm, Sabal palmetto, enacted 1939 South Dakota State Tree, black hills spruce, Picea glauca, enacted 1947 Tennessee State Tree, Tulip poplar, Liriodendron tulipifera, enacted 1947 Texas State Tree, pecan, Carya illinoinensis, enacted 1947 Utah State Tree, blue spruce, Picea pungens, enacted 1933 Vermont State Tree, sugar maple, Acer saccharum, enacted 1949 Virginia State Tree, flowering dogwood, Cornus florida, enacted 1956 Washington State Tree, Tsuga heterophylla, enacted 1947 West Virginia State Tree, sugar maple, Acer saccharum, enacted 1949 Wisconsin State Tree, sugar maple, Acer saccharum, enacted 1949 Wyoming State Tree, plains cottonwood, Poplus deltoides subsp. monilifera, enacted 1947 * California has designated two distinct species as its state tree.** Although Iowa did not designate a specific species of oak as its state tree, many people recognize bur oak, Quercus macrocarpa, as the state tree since it is the most widespread species in the state.*** Although no specific species of magnolia was designated as the state tree of Mississippi, most references recognize the Southern Magnolia, Magnolia grandiflora, as the state tree.This information was provided by the United States National Arboretum. Many state trees listed here can be found in the U.S. National Arboretums National Grove of State Trees.

The History and Legacy of the Free Soil Party

The History and Legacy of the Free Soil Party The Free Soil Party was an American political party that only survived through two presidential elections, in 1848 and 1852. Essentially a single issue reform party dedicated to stopping the spread of slavery to new states and territories in the West, it attracted a very dedicated following. But the party was perhaps doomed to have a fairly short life simply because it could not generate enough widespread support to grow into a permanent party. The most significant  impact of the Free Soil Party was that its unlikely presidential candidate in 1848, former president Martin Van Buren,  helped tilt the election. Van Buren attracted votes that otherwise would have gone to the Whig and Democratic candidates, and his campaign, especially in his home state of New York, had enough impact to change the outcome of the national race. Despite the party’s lack of longevity, the principles of the â€Å"Free Soilers† outlived the party itself. Those who had participated in the Free Soil party  were later involved in the founding and rise of the new Republican Party in the 1850s. Origins of the Free Soil Party The heated controversy prompted by the Wilmot Proviso in 1846 set the stage for the Free Soil Party to quickly organize and participate in presidential politics two years later. The brief amendment to a congressional spending bill related to the Mexican War would have prohibited slavery in any territory acquired by the United States from Mexico. Though the restriction never actually became law, the passage of it by the House of Representatives led to a firestorm. Southerners were enraged by what they considered an attack on their way of life. The influential senator from South Carolina, John C. Calhoun, responded by introducing a series of resolutions in the U.S. Senate stating the position of the South: that slaves were property, and the federal government could not dictate where or when citizens of the nation could take their property. In the North, the issue of whether slavery could spread westward split both major political parties, the Democrats, and the Whigs. In fact, the Whigs were said to have split into two factions, the â€Å"Conscience Whigs† who were anti-slavery, and the â€Å"Cotton Whigs,† who were not opposed to slavery. Free Soil Campaigns and Candidates With the slavery issued very much on the public mind, the issue moved into the realm of presidential politics when President James K. Polk chose not to run for a second term in 1848. The presidential field would be wide open, and the battle over whether slavery would spread westward seemed like it would be a deciding issue. The Free Soil party came about when the Democratic Party in New York State fractured when the state convention in 1847 would not endorse the Wilmot Proviso. Anti-slavery Democrats, who were termed â€Å"Barnburners,† teamed up with â€Å"Conscience Whigs† and members of the pro-abolitionist Liberty Party. In the complicated politics of New York State, the Barnburners were in a fierce battle with another faction of the Democratic Party, the Hunkers. The dispute between Barnburners and Hunkers led to a split in the Democratic Party. The anti-slavery Democrats in New York flocked to the newly created Free Soil Party and set the stage for the 1848 presidential election. The new party held conventions in two cities in New York State, Utica, and Buffalo, and adopted the slogan â€Å"Free Soil, Free Speech, Free Labor, and Free Men.† The party’s nominee for president was an unlikely choice, a former president, Martin Van Buren. His running mate was Charles Francis Adams, editor, author, and grandson of John Adams and son of John Quincy Adams. That year the Democratic Party nominated Lewis Cass of Michigan, who advocated a policy of â€Å"popular sovereignty,† in which settlers in new territories would decide by vote whether to allow slavery. The Whigs nominated Zachary Taylor, who had just become a national hero based on his service in the Mexican War. Taylor avoided the issues, saying little at all. In the general election in November 1848, the Free Soil Party received about 300,000 votes. And it was believed they took enough votes away from Cass, especially in the critical state of New York, to swing the election to Taylor. The Legacy of the Free Soil Party The Compromise of 1850 was assumed, for a time, to have settled the issue of slavery. And thus the Free Soil Party faded away. The party nominated a candidate for president in 1852, John P. Hale, a senator from New Hampshire. But Hale only received about 150,000 votes nationwide and the Free Soil Party was not a factor in the election. When the Kansas-Nebraska Act, and outbreaks of violence in Kansas, reignited the issue of slavery, many supporters of the Free Soil Party helped found the Republican Party in 1854 and 1855. The new Republican Party nominated John C. Frà ©mont for president in 1856, and adapted the old Free Soil slogan as â€Å"Free Soil, Free Speech, Free Men, and Frà ©mont.†